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Remember this quilt I was working on? Well, the other day I made progress! For one, I finally pieced together all the blocks. For the longest time I had the blocks laid out in the middle of my sewing room – it was annoying having to walk around them so I pieced them together (only took me 30 minutes!).Then I thought, might as well baste it now. That took me a little longer, mainly because of my baby bump.Basting a quilt is a workout having to squat and reach, repeatedly. It was my first time trying it with my 15 lb belly/baby weight! I’m at 29 weeks already…time is flying by! (photo above: I like to use curved pins when basting. It makes life easier).I happened to find the perfect thread to go along with the color scheme. I chose gold for the quilt top, and purple for the backing. Purple and gold…(gooo Huskies!) 😉Inspired by the fabric, the thread and the fact that basting (in my opinion, the least fun part of quilting!) was over, I threw the quilt on my sewing machine and started quilting.Thanks to my amazing Pfaff Grand Quilter (it’s super fast), I finished quilting in about 30 minutes. You might have to click to enlarge the picture above to see the actual quilting. I just did straight lines and made diamonds. I like it simple!

I told you I made progress 😉

If you like the fabric collection I used, I have it on sale at my new shop. Click HERE. The quilt top requires 8 fat quarters. I’ll have the tutorial up shortly.

With the holidays just around the corner (yay!), I was trying to think of a quick crafting project that would make a fun little gift. I love this idea because the fabric basket can be reused throughout the year. This tutorial uses charm squares (pre-cut 5″ squares) – I used Autumn themed prints since Thanksgiving is this week (can you believe it?!). Check out all the other charm square options at the new store! Enjoy the tutorial!

Materials for 1 basket:

10 charm squares (pre-cut 5″ squares)

Plastic mesh, at least an 8″ x 16″ sheet (you can find this at most crafting stores)

Coordinating embroidery floss and needle

Coordinating thread

Glue stick

Step 1 – Cut the plastic mesh to create a total of four trapezoids that are 4.5″ long, where the narrow end measures 3″ and the wide end measures 4.5″. To do this, cut your mesh so it measures a 15.75″ x 4.5″ rectangle. Using a pen and ruler, make the following markings along the length of the plastic mesh as illustrated in red, below. (click image to enlarge)

(Note: this image is not a cutting template – it is not to scale)

Then, make diagonal cuts (black lines shown above). This will give you a total of 4 trapezoids:From the remaining mesh, cut a 3″ x 3″ square. This will be the base of your basket.

After you’re done cutting the mesh, you should have a total of four trapezoids, and one 3″ square.

Step 2 – From your 10 charm squares, choose eight and trim them into trapezoids. These trapezoids will be 1/4″ bigger around the perimeter than the mesh trapezoids you previously cut. To do this, take one charm square and at the bottom, measure 3/4″ inward on both the left and right sides. From that mark, make a straight cut all the way to the corner for both sides as shown below. This will give you a trapezoid that is 5″ long, where the narrow end (bottom) measures 3.5″ and the wide end (top) measures 5″. Repeat for seven more charm squares.

From the remaining two charm squares, cut two 3.5″ x 3.5″ squares. When you’re done cutting all the charm squares, you should have eight trapezoids, and two 3.5″ squares:

Step 3 – Create the side panels of the basket by making a fabric/mesh sandwich: Take two fabric trapezoids and one mesh trapezoid. Place the mesh trapezoid in the center of the fabric trapezoid (the fabric trapezoid will be 1/4″ bigger around the perimeter); secure with glue. The wrong sides of the fabric should be facing the mesh. Repeat to create a total of four panels.
Repeat to create another mesh/fabric sandwich, but for the base of the basket. Use the two fabric squares and one mesh square.

Step 4 – Sew a 1/4″ seam around the perimeter of all four side panels and the base, as shown below. Since the mesh was cut 1/4″ smaller around the perimeter, the stitch will be against the edge of the mesh.

Step 5 – First, arrange the four trapezoids and the base as shown below. The surfaces that are facing up will become the inside of the basket.Illustrated by the red arrow above, starting with one trapezoid, flip it so that the inside surface is facing the top of the base. Make sure to align the edge of the base with the narrow edge of the trapezoid.

Now attach the trapezoid to the base by sewing a 1/4″ seam, making sure that you are sewing right up against the mesh. Start and end your stitch 1/4″ from the sides of the trapezoid panel as shown below (make sure that you don’t sew past the edges of the mesh). Start and end your stitch with a back-stitch.
Repeat the above for the remaining three side panels. The inside should look like this after all four panels are sewn on:
Step 6 – Lastly, fold all four panels upward. The 1/4″ seams will be exposed on the outside.Use embroidery floss to tie-up the corners. I did 3 knots along all four side edges. You could also sew the sides closed using a 1/4″ seam.Optional: Fray the exposed seams by snipping little frays (~ 1/4″ apart). I personally like the look of the frays; it gives it a rag-quilt look.

Hi All! Just wanted to wish you all a safe and Happy Halloween! I actually took a little break from the store and crafted this weekend! Inspired by yummy candy, I decided to make a Frayed Fabric Basket as a candy dish. I’ll have the tutorial up soon…it’s really simple.

On a different note, last weekend my husband and I returned from a baby-moon at the Florida Keys. 🙂 In the spirit of Halloween, here’s a couple spooky decorations I thought you’d enjoy. I took these at Key West – this town goes all out for Halloween!Quilting in the Rain, the online store, update! >> For those of you that haven’t heard, I’ve been working late hours to launch my online store that specializes in selling pre-cut fabrics. I can’t believe I’m finally saying this, but it should be ready to launch within the next 2 weeks if not sooner. We’re just finishing up some last minute touches. 🙂 I’m so excited to share all the fabric I have stocked for you!

Time flies when you’re busy! It’s not that I’ve been ignoring all you fellow fabriholics…quite the opposite actually – I’ve been a busy bee working away on Quilting in the Rain’s online store in order to satiate your fabric addiction 😉 We’re aiming to go live by the end of this month…I really can’t believe it’s already October! Anyway, above is a sneak peak of our new store logo…the blog logo will remain the same.

Being a fabriholic, one of the hardest parts of starting the store is the stockpiles of gorgeous inventory I have…the thought of it just sitting there brings a tear to my eye. The funnest part of course is choosing beautiful collections for you all – I’ve even pre-ordered fabric collections all the way into the new year to provide you the freshest, latest fabrics. The store is really coming together – it’s pretty darn cute! Can’t wait to introduce it to you all!

Hi All! My Rainy Days quilt tutorial is being featured on Sew We Quilt @ Stash Manicure today, August 15th. Click the link below to check it out, and for a chance to win TWO jelly rolls! Sweet deal!

On a different note, I’m off to a slow start on my latest bakeshop tutorial, but at least I’ve started! I wanted to share some photos of my little helpers keeping me company while i quilt. Putting together a tut requires a lot of photos…though Bodie and Paige started encroaching on my photos, they “started” out as perfect little models…

Here are before pictures…(Paige on the left, Bodie on the right)

Bodie was content, but Paige got restless…

…and here are after pics :-p I left the room for one minute to find Paige rolling around in my patchwork.

Their way of of telling me they were ready for a walk. 😉 Anyway, I hope to wrap this tutorial up in the next week or so, so stay tuned. Thanks for stopping by!